Man claims he wanted 'nudist' lifestyle before being arrested for child porn

By JAMES A. KIMBLEUnion Leader Correspondent

BRENTWOOD — A man charged with possessing child pornography and exposing himself to a 7-year-old Exeter girl told police he was trying to begin a "nudist" lifestyle before his arrest on Tuesday.

Stephen Day, 26, remained jailed on Wednesday after a judge entered no plea during his arraignment in 10th Circuit Court on charges of possession of child sexual abuse images and indecent exposure.

.Day admitted to police that he maintained a collection of child pornography on his computer, saying, "This is just something that like I fight with myself all the time on," according to a sworn affidavit by Detective Ryan Veno...Exeter police began investigating Day on Aug. 10, after they received a complaint about the girl possibly being sexually assaulted, court documents say.

The girl told police that Day made had her undress and dance around a laundry room in the basement of her home...Day acknowledged that he "spent the day naked" with the girl while he was doing laundry and playing games with the girl, but detectives confronted him about his reasoning behind having the girl undress..."The nudist thing. That's not what's going on here," Detective Sgt. Michael Munck told Day. "You can tell yourself that. And you can use it as a shield, but you and I both know that's not what's going on here."..Day reacted by putting his head down and his face in his hands as if he were about to cry then asked if he needed a lawyer, according to Veno's affidavit.

Exeter police obtained a search warrant for Day's laptop computer on Nov. 5, according to court records. Day admitted he had amassed a collection of child pornography "while he was in the Navy stationed in Japan," the affidavit says...Day also told police that he wiped out his hard drive before returning to the United States, but investigators with the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force forensically recovered photographs and videos of young girls performing sexual acts, court documents said...Day is being held on $500 cash bail and $10,000 personal recognizance bail.